


I have been expecting you

by lilihead



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Co-workers, F/F, F/M, Friendship/Love, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-17 09:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15458292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilihead/pseuds/lilihead
Summary: Betty Cooper, a successful writer for a fashion magazine, lives with her friend Veronica in NYC. She crosses paths with Jughead, an urban and travel photographer, who knows more things about her than he leads on. Their friendship encounters a rough start but will they be able to get over it?





	1. Pretentious.

"Come on B, you have to meet him." Veronica has been begging her best friend to go out with her for the past hour.

"I told you several times already that I have a lot of reading to get done for my article, V. Also, it would be really awkward to be the third wheel there," said Betty as she was going through her notes for the fifth time that evening. Truth be told, she didn't really need to do that research, but there was no way she would go out with Veronica and this guy she couldn't stop going on about since she began dating him two weeks before. 

"Come on, it won't be awkward. When was it ever awkward?"

"That Reggie guy you couldn't stop making out with when you dragged me to dinner to meet him? Or that other guy, uh - Lucas, the one you left with, which resulted in ditching me in that goddamn awful club. Also, the one with the green eyes..."

"Okay, okay I get it." Veronica huffed in annoyance. "But this time I swear it's different." she insisted as she began typing something on her phone, the sound of her manicured nails clicking on the screen getting Betty even more exasperated. She knew her best friend. Every time Veronica met someone new, she couldn't stop talking about him being her soulmate and, if Betty were to guess, she'd say this time was no different.

"You know B, I remember you saying something about us having to celebrate that new promotion you got."

"That was two weeks ago," Betty said rolling her eyes. She had to give it to her best friend, she wouldn't go down without a fight. She also had to admit that it was no surprise that Veronica could find excuses to party no matter how small and inconsequential they were. 

"And we didn't get to do it. It's the perfect time now." Veronica said smiling, hugging her stylish crimson shawl around her. "Plus, you have no excuse now. Archie is also bringing his roommate tonight and we both know you don't need to read that as you are way ahead of everyone in the department." the raven-haired pushed to her feet taking the papers from Betty and putting them away on the nightstand sitting next to her.

"Fine." Betty huffed in defeat. Of course, Veronica knew that. Being both roommates and coworkers sometimes had its disadvantages but she wouldn't change it for the world. "On one condition - you will stop harassing me into going out with you for the next month." 

"Oh sweetie, I was not even trying." Veronica beamed as she stood up and entered her walk-in closet. Less than one minute later, she came out with a silky diamond-green dress in her hand. "And this is your outfit, you can thank me later." 

Betty knew it was pointless for her to put up a fight with the raven-haired girl, especially when it came to fashion. After all, Veronica was working as the head of the fashion department at Velvet magazine, the magazine Betty was also working for. After putting on the dress, even Betty had to admit that she looked nice in it. Of course, she didn't have the body of the girls Veronica was used to styling, but she came to terms with how she looked a long time ago.  She tucked at her ponytail, her golden hair falling on the silky material, curling at the ends.

"You look hot, I bet Archie's roommate will not be able to take his eyes off of you." 

"Never wasting a chance to set me up with someone..." 

Betty wasn't at her first rodeo. She knew how it usually was. Veronica drags her to meet the new boyfriend. Said boyfriend drags along one of his single friends. Veronica will shamelessly try to make them date. Betty will make up an excuse and Veronica's plan will fall to ruins. But, on the bright side, Betty will have someone to make small talk with when Veronica and her boyfriend will be too caught up in each other. 

"You can't even blame me. You never even mentioned a guy since we graduated from college, let alone date one." said the brunette as she was dangling a bracelet in front of the mirror, trying to decide if it suited the outfit. 

"That is not true. I talk to you about guys all the time. Like the cute coffee cart barista from the lobby at Velvet. Or the guy I see on the subway every Thursday on my way home. Also, that photographer I interviewed three months ago for my social media influencer column. Buuut, if I think about it, he came across as arrogant so nevermind."

"Do you even listen to yourself? Those barely qualify as human interactions." Veronica said with a grin, which caused Betty to roll her eyes. 

"That's not true. I talk to the barista every day and, in another month, I have a follow-up interview with the pretentious photographer." the blonde said in an indignant tone. 

"Come on, our Uber is here. We have to get there before the guys." Betty rushed to put on her jacket, pleased with the change of subject. Even though she loved Veronica with her whole being, sometimes her meddling in Betty's private life was a little bit frustrating.

Ten minutes later, the girls were seated at a booth in a really Instagrammable bar Veronica found on Pinterest and had been dying to go to ever since. However, she mentioned something about the lights not being right for her Instagram feed theme and how they will get a drink there again once she switches her color palette to autumn-ish colors. Betty got used to these kinds of complaints in the past couple of years, especially since Veronica's fashion and beauty blog really took off and her Instagram follower number basically increased exponentially. Even if it didn't seem like much work, her friend always needed to update her social media at least three times a day, communicate with her followers and make daily posts on her blog. And, on top of all of that, she was the first female Latina head of the fashion department at Velvet. Sometimes Betty wondered how her friend did it all, seeing how only thinking about the social media stuff gave her a great deal of anxiety. Of course, she had her own blog but, apart from the articles she uploaded weekly, there was not much interaction with the readers on her part.

For the next fifteen minutes, Veronica proceeded to tell her about this really awful model she had to style at work who refused to wear purple accessories because she said her skin tone will look weird in the photos. She also mentioned a few cute comments from her followers and a really emotional email from one of her blog readers. Betty looked at the clock that was hanging at the back of the bar, showing there were still five minutes until the guys were supposed to arrive. She used to hate Veronica for making her show up half an hour early to these things but, over time, Betty began to appreciate this kind of girl time. Just as Veronica was in the middle of one of her Velvet styling stories, a red-haired guy just walked in and, judging by her friend's heart eyes, he would be Archie.

"Archie!" Veronica squealed in delight as she stood up and kissed the redhead who kissed her in return. Their kiss lasted a little bit longer than it should have, but neither one of them seem to notice. A few years back, Betty would have felt uncomfortable if she were to witness such a scene but, gladly, she was not that girl anymore. For that, she had to thank her confident Latina friend. "This is my best friend and roommate, Betty. Betty, this is my boyfriend, Archie." 

"Nice to finally meet you, Betty. I heard so many great things about you," he said cheerfully. Betty knew for a fact that Veronica was one to gush about her, especially when she had ulterior motives for setting her up.

"I somehow don't doubt that. Nice to meet you too, Archie." Betty responded with a smile, not before glaring to her brunette roommate over Archie's shoulder.

"Archiekins, where is your friend? You said he will join us tonight." 

"Yeah, he is. He got off a station earlier to take some photos for the portfolio he's working on. He should be here any second."

"Did you hear that B? He's a photographer. That is so cool, isn't it?" the petite brunette smirked raising an eyebrow at Betty after sliding into the booth closer to her new boyfriend.

"Yeah, sure," Betty answered as nonchalantly as she could manage. She didn't want to give Veronica the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of her even though they both knew that photography was a thing Betty was immensely interested in. When she was young, she used to go camping with her sister, both of them taking photographs at the Sweetwater River with the cameras their dad bought for them one Christmas. Polly, her sister, has even become an event photographer and works as a freelancer. 

They spent the next minutes talking about Archie's dog and Veronica was practically swooning listening to his story about the time he volunteered at a dog shelter back when he was in high school. If his roommate was not getting there soon, Betty would have to leave in order to give those two some privacy. After a few more cheesy stories from Archie that were meant to impress Veronica and a promise to write her a song if she agreed on a weekend retreat to his dad's hunting cabin, Betty saw Archie wave at someone behind her who Betty could only assume was his roommate. Before she could turn around, the guy was standing near her.

 At first, she only registered his smell, a smell that was vaguely familiar. But, looking up at him, she knew she remembered his jet-black curls and his piercing blue eyes.

"Jughead. Nice to see you again." she greeted him in her most collected voice. After all, from what she could remember, his attitude towards her was very passive-aggressive when they first met. Betty thought it was a shame. He was a really talented photographer and, if she had to admit, really easy on the eyes so it was really unfortunate he was an asshole.

"Betty. Nice to see you too," he answered back to her greeting in the same detached tone. "You must be Veronica. I am Jughead," he said extending his hand to the brunette in a very cool and polite manner. Jughead slid into the booth next to Betty, setting his camera on the table. 

"Wait, how do you two know each other?" Veronica asked with a confused look on her face.

"We met at work. I interviewed Jughead some time ago for my column." Betty looked to Jughead who just nodded with his eyes fixed somewhere in front of him, avoiding any eye contact with her.

"So he was the cu- uh..." Betty nudged Veronica's knee under the table, stopping her from turning the situation into an embarrassing one for her. "... cool photographer, you were talking about?" she asked Betty with a knowing look and the blonde nodded subtly in agreement. Veronica's face couldn't contain her excitement and she was grinning the whole time. "That's just amazing! Let's get some drinks.  Archiekins, follow me." And with that, both Veronica and Archie disappeared. Betty knew it would be a long time until they would return to their table if they would ever.

Only when the two were out of sight, Betty realized she had no other option but to talk to the man sitting next to her. Even though neither of them moved in their seats since Jughead sat down, she could feel their closeness, his smell of cigarettes and musky cologne intoxicating her. However, she was not going to get distracted by his presence, especially considering her first impression of him - arrogant. She took multiple sips of her gin and tonic, trying to seem preoccupied with the drink in front of her, as neither one of them seemed eager to start a conversation. 

"I'm going to grab a beer since Archie apparently won't be coming back soon." Jughead sat up rather abruptly taking Betty by surprise who only managed to respond with a nod. "You want another one of those?" he asked and she nodded again, mentally kicking herself for not using words. He smiled in what she thought was amusement at her inability to use basic words of the English language and headed to the bar. 

Less than five minutes later, Jughead returned with both of their drinks, placing the gin and tonic in front of her, while he sat down across from her. She couldn't help but feel relieved to put some space between them. Taking a few more sips of her drink, Betty felt a little lightheaded and she made a mental note not to order any more drinks that night.

"Did you get the chance to read the article I wrote on your work? The issue came out this month." the blonde asked trying to find a safe ground for conversation until Veronica would get bored and decide to go home. 

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't read it."

"Oh, I could email it to you if you want. I still have the final copy somewhere in my drafts." She was a little disappointed by his answer. It was an article she was really proud of especially because she got the chance to combine her two passions - photography and writing.

"No, don't worry, it's fine. I never read the articles about my art anyway." There it was again, Betty thought -  the superior attitude.

"Arrogant much?" she heard herself saying, instantly feeling her face getting hotter with embarrassment for saying it out loud. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"It's fine, I can take it," he  What I actually meant is that I don't want to read any interpretation of my art because I don't want it to change the way I see it. Most of the work I do depicts something personal and I don't want to read anything that might diminish its meaning. I hope you get that."

"I get it. I think it's really brave what you're doing - putting your work out in the world for everyone to see and to judge. I am not sure I could. I still have pieces of writing and photographs I took that I will probably never show to anyone because of how personal they feel. Also, they are probably awful anyway." 

"If you're half the photographer Polly is, your photos must be amazing" he stated, running a hand through his hair. Two dark curls bounced back to his forehead as he watched Betty with curious eyes. In spite of the seemingly easy-going conversation, Betty couldn't help but feel affected by his gaze on her, occasionally having to break eye contact.

"Oh, are you familiar with Polly's work?" she finally asked a bit confused. After all, her sister was an event photographer so her photography was not the popular kind.

"I actually worked with her." He took a swig from his beer, leaving Betty bewildered with the new piece of information he delivered. "We spent two months traveling together for an editorial we did on Romania's castles. She talked about you a lot actually."

"Wait, so you knew who I was when you came down to Velvet for your interview?" she asked rather angrily and Jughead nodded sheepishly. She didn't know what to make of this situation. Who knows what Polly told him about her in those two months they were away. "Why didn't you say anything?" she finally asked, her tone going back to her usual soft one.

"I didn't want to cross any lines. It just felt like the interview was a tedious task for both of us and you seemed really determined to get it over with, so I figured it was best if I didn't say anything," he explained, raising his hands in defense. 

"I didn't want to just get it over with. I was trying to do my job as best as I could, given your pretentious answers to anything I asked." the irritation being noticeable in her voice. Not only she knew she was great at what she did, but she loved her job through and through - there was nothing tedious about it. Maybe working for a fashion magazine was not what she pictured for herself ten years before, but it gave her a great platform to speak out and tackle important topics. She loved that her target audience was represented by high school and college girls and her goal was to be that voice she knew she needed at their age. 

"Your questions were pretentious." 

"Because everybody says you are," she said in exasperation, knocking down her glass of gin and tonic, immediately feeling sorry for her sudden outburst "Sorry."

"That's why I don't read anything written about me." Jughead seemed more amused than anything. His eyes were on her, while she fumbled nervously with some napkins to clean up the mess she made and, she could swear that she could feel his gaze on her skin. Not knowing what to say, she apologized again and he reached out and placed his hand over hers in order to calm down her fumbling. "It's fine. I love a challenge," he added, slowly drawing his hand away from hers. The contact only lasted a moment, but her skin where they touched was tingling.

"I'm not a challenge," she said leaning back in her seat to put some distance between them, determined not to cause another scene for the rest of the evening. 

She looked around to catch a glimpse of Veronica and Archie, but they were nowhere to be found so, she just hoped that her best friend would get bored soon and would save her from the awkward situation she got herself into. As if on cue, Archie approached their table and sat down next to Jughead, appearing significantly drunker than when he left the table. He mumbled something about Veronica meeting a family friend at the bar, which led to him having to sit alone and apparently drinking one too many beers in order to kill time. Or, at least, that's what Betty managed to figure out from his slurred speech.

Drunk Archie was a welcome distraction from their conversation. He wasn't a much better alternative, but at least she didn't have to butt heads with Jughead over every single thing. She couldn't even make up her mind whether their previous talk excited her or only got her irritated, but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind. After all, she probably would never have to see him again. Veronica's relationships were usually short-lived, so it was very unlikely to see more of Jughead in this scenario.

As Archie was in the middle of some drunk rant about how the guys that play acoustic guitar only to get girls shouldn't be called guitarists, Veronica came over and announced it was time to leave. Both Betty and Jughead breathed a sound of relief, while the raven-haired girl eyed them with a raised eyebrow. Archie was relentless in finishing his barely comprehensible story and Veronica busied herself with ordering an Uber, the tension between the two being noticeable, both blatantly ignoring each other.

Jughead was the first to stand up, urging an inebriated Archie to do the same. After a few nudges and Jughead's shoulder to lean on, the four said their goodbyes in front of the bar as the girls' car pulled up. Just before she closed the door of the Uber behind her, Betty turned to Jughead one more time, only to find him already looking.

"Betty Cooper, I have been expecting you." were the last words she heard before they parted ways for a long time.


	2. Defeated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been two months since Betty and Jughead saw each other, but they definitely didn't forget their encounter.

Two months have passed since Betty last saw Jughead. Apparently, the old family friend Veronica met at the bar was Nick StClair, her ex-boyfriend who also happens to be her current boyfriend. Veronica told Betty that meeting him at the bar that night woke up old feelings she thought she got over and that the only thing more stupid than ignoring those feelings would be ignoring a Prada Elektra bag on sale - at least according to Veronica. Betty didn't know what that meant on a scale from 'he is okay' to 'he is the love of my life' but she didn't push the subject further. As for Archie, he reached out to Betty by sending her an e-mail, after her friend stopped returning his calls, probably getting her e-mail address from Jughead. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy, but the last thing she wanted was to get in the middle of it all. Veronica clearly made a huge mess that, happily, did not affect Betty but actually did quite the opposite - there was no sign from Jughead which, for her, meant a good thing. However, she couldn't deny the fact that she thought about what Jughead said that night every day of the week following their outing, but gladly, she succeeded in pushing those thoughts away, them barely even crossing her mind these days.

Betty was really happy with the routine she managed to develop - work was entertaining and she also had a lot of time to herself. Mondays and Thursday nights consisted of girls' nights with Veronica, a rule they set up in order to make sure they were spending quality time together especially now that Nick and Veronica were dating and spent most of the nights at his place, and Saturday nights were reserved for Connor, a really nice pediatrician that Betty went on three dates with. She met Connor in a bookstore, exactly the way she pictured meeting her soulmate when she was young and into young-adult romance books. It was too early on to say if Connor was her soulmate, but he was smart, sweet and good-looking, which was good enough for her at that moment.  Her life before New York had been enough complicated, so dating a normal, nice guy was all she wanted.

It was a Friday, which meant Betty and Veronica had to attend Velvet board meetings, a task that was still new for Betty as she was only promoted to managing editor three months before. Veronica, being the head of the fashion department was used to these kinds of meetings, especially given her family background - that girl practically grew up in a conference room. At first, she felt overwhelmed by the decisions she had to make like whether she should run or not a story in the next Velvet issue, or whether the deadlines she enforced were doable by the staff, or maybe if she should hire new members of staff, all of them while also focusing on her own stories. With her new promotion, she was not even required to keep writing, but she wouldn't give it up for the world so, she considered, she got the best of both worlds - journalist and managing editor.

"Come on, it will be fine. You are Betty Cooper," Veronica said while chasing a hurried Betty. 

"You don't get it, they want me to move the deadline to Monday, which is 3 days from now. We don't have anything to give them, we barely even started working on it. I can't even ask my team to work late on the weekends, it wouldn't be fair."  They were doing an editorial on Manhattan's old buildings that had important architectural significance but were to be demolished in order to make room for skyscrapers or apartment buildings. It was an unusual topic to be featured in Velvet, but Betty was the one to pitch it to the board a few weeks ago, asking them if she could do this piece, given her interest in architecture and her love for old buildings with amazing history. She had the perfect vision on how she would turn this feature into something fit for the magazine and for the millennial culture and her pitch was so good, the editor in chief couldn't say no. But now, she had only two and a half days to do it, which was not nearly enough. 

"I'll help you, we'll do this together," Veronica said, always ready for a challenge. Betty went to her desk announcing everyone to email her what they already had on the subject, while Veronica proceeded to call some photographers from her department to put them on the task at hand. As expected, the journalists didn't even manage to cover half of the buildings Betty had on her list, so that was something she had to do herself over the weekend, although she knew it would take a lot of research and coffee. 

By the time everyone in the office went home, Betty and Veronica seemed to have everything under control. They were going to have the photos by Saturday afternoon, Betty was going to write herself the writing pieces that were needed and Veronica was calling in favors and making sure that the photographers would have total access to the locations on Betty’s list. 

"Another one checked,” Veronica told her friend cheerfully after hanging up the phone with the director of the bank who now owned one of the buildings on Betty’s list. ‘I will tell Mark to go there first thing in the morning and take the photos.” 

“I don’t know what I would have done without you, V. You are a goddess,” she said sighing out in relief. 

"I know, my little Miranda Priestly" Veronica beamed. "Let's go home now. I will promise to treat you with a big cup of Veronica Lodge's signature hot cocoa. I know for a fact you can't say no to that, because that is what you always like to do when you're working from home," she winked while gathering the papers scattered all over the desk.

"First of all," Betty indignantly closed her laptop "I am really flattered by that The Devil Wears Prada reference and secondly, you are absolutely right. Let's go." 

* * *

 

While the girls were getting ready to go home, in Brooklyn, an exhausted Jughead was returning home from a photography project. He had been gone camping alone for three days in the Bellvale Mountain in order to take the perfect photos for his feature in Wanderlust, a highly praised travel magazine, and, frankly, it was a good opportunity to get away from the city and from the lovesick and heartbroken Archie.

"I can't believe you are still playing that song," Jughead shouted from the hall of their apartment. "Tell me you haven't been playing it for the whole three days while I was away." 

Archie responded with a sound that sounded more like a grunt than an actual word and Jughead decided to leave him alone. It was not like he had enough energy to deal with his mood anyway. Since the relationship with Veronica ended, Archie has been miserable, strumming his guitar to sad love songs, only occasionally stopping to attempt to call his now ex-girlfriend. 

The dark-haired man went to the kitchen in desperate need of something to eat, after only eating canned goods for the past three days, only to find out that there was actually nothing edible in their fridge because Archie stopped restocking their food after the break-up. 

"I'm going to that Thai place around the corner, do you want anything Archie?" he called out, figuring his best friend should eat a proper meal too and wouldn't refuse his favorite kind of food.

"Whatever you're having is fine." 

Of course, he knew Archie's order by heart so he didn't need to buy 'whatever he was having', but he was glad his friend decided to eat. Now, if he could only convince him to take a shower. After grabbing his jacket, he stepped outside into the mild September air. As much as he liked being alone in the wild, he loved the city. The neon lights, the clinking of glasses that could be heard from the sidewalk bars, the numerous street artists were all reasons why he felt a magnetic pull towards this city and its possibilities.

 He thought back to Archie who was still pining over a girl and how, if he were to be honest with himself, Archie was not the only one who has been thinking about a particular girl. He thought a lot about Betty and he even wanted to contact her, but their last meeting hadn't gone well and he was afraid he came across as a mad stalker. He shouldn't have said what he did when they parted ways, just as he shouldn't have given Archie Betty's e-mail address - it could have been worse, he could have given Archie her phone number. He realized it was Friday so he made a mental note to check her personal blog when he gets home because she only updated on Friday evenings - like he said, mad stalker. He was a regular reader ever since Polly told him about her having a sister that is a writer. It didn't even matter what she wrote about, what pulled him in were her literature references, her strong reasonings and the fact that she used humor in a way so subtle that it wasn't for everyone.

After grabbing the food and returning to the apartment, Jughead decided to take a shower to clear his head, which unfortunately didn't do much. He went to his laptop only to see that Betty didn't post anything that day which was strange because she always wrote a new post on her blog on Fridays. He admitted defeat, deciding to go to bed early, needing a good sleep after sleeping in a tent for two nights. 

* * *

 

It was noon on Saturday and Betty woke up after a two-hours sleep. She pulled an all-nighter and was only halfway finished with her stories for the editorial, so there was still a long way to go. She didn't even take into consideration how much time consuming was the research that needed to be done and how hard it would be to gather all the pieces of historical information.  Veronica was a gift sent from God, and she fueled Betty with coffee and food the entire night and even took care of the lunch, which was probably ordered because Veronica had many talents, but cooking was not one of them.

"B, we just received all the photos," Veronica came running into the living room, going straight for Betty's laptop, which was opened on the floor. Betty excitedly sat down on the floor next to her best friend, while she opened the folder and browsed through the pictures.

"These are...", Betty said in a whispered voice.

"Absolutely awful!" the raven-haired girl exclaimed while Betty nodded with a slow motion of her head.

"Yeah, they are not all bad, but it's clear that the photographers that made these don't have the eye for architectural and urban photography. They focused on the wrong details."

"I know, I am sorry, Betty," Veronica said regretfully.

"Oh God, what I am going to do now?" Betty asked in a desperate tone, running her hand through her tangled blonde locks. 

Veronica stood up and grabbed Betty's phone from the vintage coffee table, handing it to her.

"You know what you have to do." she patted Betty's shoulder before leaving the room quietly. 

Betty sighed in defeat and unlocked her phone, scrolling down to the letter J in her contact book and quickly dialing before having the chance to change her mind. He answered on the second ring.

"Hi, Jughead. It's Betty. I need your help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you will enjoy reading this chapter at least as much as I loved writing it.
> 
> I appreciate all your feedback and your kudos, thank you.


	3. Panopticon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead was surprised to see Betty's name pop up on his screen and even more when she asked for his help with the landscapes she needed for the editorial. They spend an entire afternoon visiting and shooting abandoned historical buildings in Lower Manhattan.

Given the sleeping conditions over the past two nights, Jughead slept in on Saturday. He considered laying in bed for another hour, not wanting to start his day yet. Although his photography trip was over, the work didn't end there - he had to download the photos to his computer, select the ones worth making the editorial and then start on the editing process, before sending them to the Wanderlust editorial staff. The editing part was not his favorite thing to do, but over the years he learned that it was better to do it himself, rather than letting others do it because he could have full control over the final product - after all, those photos were associated with his name. The great thing about landscapes was that they didn't require much editing. If the captured photos were good, there was not much he had to do because, in Jughead's view, the whole purpose of editing is not fixing your photography, but enhancing it.  
Of course, Jughead couldn't start working before he had food first, of which, he remembered, there was none in their apartment. Silently cursing Archie and himself for being the stereotypical guys in their 20s who fail to do chores like grocery shopping, laundry or cleaning in an organized and scheduled manner, he still went to the kitchen hoping for the miracle that Archie woke up early and went out to buy something edible. That was not an unusual scenario in Archie's pre-Veronica life, but Jughead doubted that his friend went back to his normal habits. He was not surprised in the slightest to find Archie asleep on the couch, still surrounded by last night's cardboard boxes, the Thai food leftovers emanating a stale smell. 

He went back to his room and changed into a pair of dark jeans and a dark grey t-shirt, deliberately not putting on his beanie. He had a love-hate relationship with that beanie - he loved it because it was one of the only things left from his parents and it reminded him of his childhood and he hated it for almost the same reasons. However, wearing it as a teenager used to give him a feeling of security and comfort, but after moving to New York, he noticed he did not wear it all that much, at some point stopping altogether. He rarely wears it now, which, he thinks, is a symbol of him finally making peace with his past. However, he sometimes finds himself in situations where he wishes he was wearing the beanie for the comfort it provides. He experienced that twice in the last three months, both times involving a certain stunning, quick-witted blonde. The first time he met her, he felt overwhelmed by her presence and he was almost sure he would have felt that way even without reading her blog first or hearing the stories Polly casually told him about her little sister. He wanted to tell her all those after the interview was over, but his brain somehow stopped functioning and he managed to mess up the interview, which in itself could have been great because of Betty's quick-witted and well-researched questions. The second time they met was unexpected and all he wanted to do was tell her how he finds her blog exceptional but didn't want to come across as a stalker. However, he made things worse by telling her he knows a great deal about her from Polly, which in reality was not all true, but it did make him appear like a creep. 

It was the first time someone affected him in the ways that Betty did, which was thrilling but also infuriating, as he was not used to being the one who didn't have the upper hand or control in a situation. When he was young, he didn't have a choice but to carry a lot of responsibility on his shoulders since his parents, although physically there, were absent from his and his sister's upbringing. Later on, after his mom left him and his father, taking his sister with her, he found the closest thing he had to a home in a biker gang, the bikers slowly becoming his family. Coming from that, he always sought control, working the things he wanted with a lot of determination. 

He pushed the thoughts about Betty and about his childhood away, taking his laptop and camera from his desk and putting them in his backpack. After throwing a blanket over a sleeping Archie and putting on his combat boots, he left the apartment in search of a cafe that he could work in, while also get his food and dose of caffeine. Stepping outside with no destination in mind, Jughead walked about twenty minutes in the warm September weather. It was transitioning between summer and autumn, which meant you could still get the perfect summer shots without having to endure the summer New York heat. He finally found the perfect spot he did not know he was looking for - a gloomy coffeehouse with terracotta tiled floors, bookshelves at the back of the cafe that accommodated a large number of books and wide windows looking out on Atlantic Ave. It was not only the nice design that drew Jughead into the place, but it was also the strong smell of baked goods and brewing coffee. Getting himself a large cup of coffee and a chicken sandwich, he sat down at one of the tables near the window so he could people watch while he ate. 

He took out his camera and laptop, placing them on the table, sighing that he still had at least three hours of editing in front of him. It was an infuriating process - usually, the longer he stares at a photo, the less content he is of how it looks and his editing always ended in exasperation. But, to his credit, he never had negative feedback from the publications he worked with. He downloaded the images on his laptop, picking fifteen out of the total, most of them not needing more than some lens correction and some basic color editing. Usually, there was harsh criticism from his part on his own art, but now, he could feel only a sense of accomplishment upon seeing his photos. He noticed he always delivered his best work when he needed to escape his own thoughts and this time was not an exception. 

Half an hour into editing, he was already on his fifth photo, working on Vibrance, not being able to decide if faded colors would work better with the foggy scenery he managed to capture when his phone started vibrating. He picked it up from the table and stopped in his tracks when he saw that the name that popped up on the screen was actually hers. He let it ring a second longer, out of disbelief, before sliding to answer.

"Hi, Jughead. It's Betty. I need your help." her voice came through the speaker.

"Hi, Betty. What can I do for you?" he asked, hoping his voice did not sound shaky.

"I wouldn't ask if I had any other option and I really wish you could help me out, but if not, I totally understand. It's a lot to ask from you, especially on a weekend and - " she was rambling nervously.

"Betty, what is it?" he asked rather concerned.

"I need a photographer." Jughead let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding, relieved that she asked for the only thing he was good at.

"That I can do," he replied shortly. "Just tell me what you need me to do and when." 

"I am doing this editorial on Manhattan's landmark buildings that are going to be taken down in order to make space for newer constructions. And I need the photos until 9 am on Monday, so I guess we'll have to do this now." she used a tone Jughead noticed she always spoke in when she talked about anything job-related. 

"We?" he asked surprised.

"I will come with you, I need to see the photos myself in order to make sure they are what we need." 

"So what are you saying is that you don't trust me," he said trying to act offended, when in fact offense was the last thing he felt at that moment.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Jughead. That was not what I tried to say at all. It's just that Velvet is so different from the other publications that feature your work and -"

"Relax, Betty, I was joking. When and where do you want me?" he instantly regretted his choice of words, silently hoping that Betty wouldn't take it the wrong way. Apparently, his brain was deciding on his own to stop functioning whenever he and Betty were talking.

"How fast can you get to Lower East Side?" she promptly asked

Jughead looked at the open editing programs on his desktop, deciding to finish his work later, entirely forgetting about his own deadline he had to meet - he preferred spending his Saturday afternoon taking photos with Betty anyway.

"Probably in about half an hour." 

"That's perfect, thank you. Meet me at the Sunshine Cinema," she said excitedly then hung up before he could say anything else.

The idea of an entire afternoon with Betty, walking around Manhattan, taking pictures of historical buildings, made his heart beat a little bit faster, and, without wasting another minute in that coffeehouse, Jughead slammed his laptop shut and gathered  his things, before storming out of that coffee shop rushing towards the nearest subway station. He made it there in record time, hopping on the F train right before the doors closed. Sitting down, he noticed his hands getting clammy against his bouncing knees and he couldn't understand why he was reacting that way - it was, after all, a job like any other. Of course, he was attracted to Betty's intelligence and her unusual humor, but he didn't want anything more and, frankly, there wasn't much room in his life for more, being content to just spend his time with this girl that managed to challenge him intellectually. 

Jughead got to the Sunshine Cinema five minutes faster than he anticipated, only to already find her standing in front of the place, dressed in a navy sundress, looking at what seemed to be old, washed out posters of past movie screenings. As if she could feel his presence, she turned and a small smile appeared on her face upon seeing him.

"Hi, thanks for coming. You are a lifesaver,"  she spoke first, her voice, however, lacking its usual punch.

"Hi. Oh, don't mention it. So, what is the plan?" Jughead asked, trying to skip the awkwardness of small talk.

"Well, I have a list of places we have to go through and this cinema is the one we're going to start with." 

"What do you have in mind?" Jughead asked taking in the building's design, with its emblematic honey-colored brick facade and sharp arches.

"I am not sure if it will make sense but - I want to bring out the architectural beauty of the place without focusing on the design details, but rather on the feeling nostalgia that comes with it."

"It makes a lot of sense. Let me show you what I have in mind." Jughead took out his camera, leaving his backpack right there on the sidewalk and went to position himself in the middle of the street, grateful that the traffic was light. However, he earned some angry honks and a few shouts from the cab drivers in his attempt to get the perfect shot, only being fully content after his fourth capture. He walked back to where Betty was standing, with the camera in his outstretched hand.

"That was incredibly dangerous and irresponsible," she said drily.

"Would you just look at the photo? Please." She reluctantly took the camera from his hand and looked at the shot, still noticeably annoyed. 

"It's exactly what I meant, it's perfect." 

"I know," Jughead said smiling, feeling a strange sense of accomplishment at her positive critique. She rolled her eyes at his self-praising remark and silently motioned him to follow her into the dingy building. 

"Are you sure we are allowed to go in?" Jughead asked, looking around the abandoned lobby. The black and white tiled floor was covered in thick dust and the furniture was all pushed to a corner, covered with white sheets. Small rays of light coming through the cracked windows on the ceiling were covering what once used to be a snack bar and the dark-haired man snapped a few photos.

"Veronica's family owns this place, so I think we're good," she said searching for a light switch on the peeling wall behind her. To their surprise, some of the lights still worked, the flickering illuminating the halls just enough for them to get by. After trying a few doors, one of them opened, creaking on its amber hinges as Betty's palm gingerly pressed against its frame. It was the main auditorium with a stadium kind of seating, consisting of plum-colored padded seats, which accommodated a big white projection screen framed by red, velvety curtains. Although the lightning was not what Jughead wished for, it was all he needed in order to give Betty the photos she wanted. He spotted a balcony overlooking the theatre, and he could already picture the whole view he would get from there, deciding that the darkened corner of that balcony would be the perfect spot to take his photo. 

"I want to get up there," he pointed to the balcony. 

"I think I saw a stairwell on our way here, but it didn't look safe," she turned his back to him while doing a hand gesture that was meant to point out where he could find it. 

"I'll be fine," he said with confidence, leaving Betty in the dim theatre.  After a few creaky sounds followed by some powerful thuds, Jughead appeared in that balcony, preparing his camera to take the shot and Betty sighed out in relief that he was okay. After a few minutes of moving around, trying to get the most suitable angle for the photo, Jughead succeeded in capturing a photo that he thought Betty would like.  He went back to where he left her, only to find out that she was nowhere to be found.

"Jughead, come over here when you're finished," the sound of her voice filling the entire theatre.

"Where are you?" he shouted back.

"Over here, just follow the sound of my voice." 

"This place is built like a freaking panopticon, help me out in here." 

He could hear a grunt followed by some sort of ruffling sound and she appeared from behind thick curtains.

"Actually, the whole idea of a panopticon is to feel watched, even though it is physically impossible for one person to actually oversee everything around him at once - that's why the plan was intended to be used for prisons. It doesn't, however, say anything about sound dissipating equally in the round shaped space. The only thing these two have in common is the shape they're built in," she said matter-of-factly. "Now would you come over here already?" 

"Who would have thought I could lure you out of your hiding place only by mistakingly using an uncommon word? Talk about pretentious..." Jughead teased.

"Shut up."

She ducked again behind the dusty curtains and this time, Jughead followed curiously in order to see what she found. Her back was turned to him, her gold locks shining in the warm flickering lights, draping like swirls of buttermilk over her shoulders.

"Could you please take a photo of this wall?" she turned to him, smiling pleadingly. 

"What is it? he asked, only seeing the peeling of paint off an old, probably damp wall.

"Well, if you look right here you can still see the colors and outlines of the original wall painting. This place was originally built as a Dutch church and the walls were covered in religious paintings," she said pointing to a patch of mostly brown and orange colors. "And here," pointing to another patch of blue and gold "you can notice a newer coat of paint probably from the early 1900s when this place had been turned into a fight club. And of course this over here," she said gesturing at the dirty beige color "is the most recent one from when the place was turned into a cinema in the 40s." Jughead looked at her like she had just explained one of the world's greatest mysteries. "What? It's all this building's history summarized in a few coats of paint," she said in a defensive tone.

"Nothing, it's impressing - not the information, but the way you even thought about encapsulating more than one hundred years of history into a photo of a damp wall," he said, taking a few step backs to figure how he would frame it into a shot. Lifting the camera, he snaps away, moving around to get different angles, so she would have multiple options. Her eyes were on him the whole time he was taking pictures, and he could feel heat rising at the back of his head.

"I'm flattered Jones, especially coming from you," she smiled playfully. He couldn't read exactly what that meant and he wanted to ask her that, but finally decided against it.

"I think we're done here." is what he said instead. "Where to next?" 

She pulled out a small leather notebook from the bag she was carrying and opened it before saying,

"There's this old synagogue a few blocks from here. How about we do that next?" she handed him the open agenda. She had a list of landmarks and old buildings organized by neighborhoods and historical importance.

"There are at least twenty places listed here," he said. "Only getting from one place to another is going to take a lot of time. We have - "

"I don't expect you to help me cover everything on this list, I am well aware it's too much and I wouldn't even think to ask you to do that." she interrupted him. 

"I was going to say we have a lot of work to do."

"Thank you." 

Her lips quirked upwards in the most beautiful smile he's ever seen someone wearing, and he knew in that moment he would snap away at abandoned, old buildings all night if that was what it took to see it again.

They left Sunshine Cinema, a feeling of nostalgia suddenly tugging at him. As if she could read his mind she turned to take a final look at the construction and said,

"Death is a strange thing, I wish this place lived to see more of its iconic midnight screenings." 

"I once read this book that said that living means waking up every morning a day closer to death and that living and dying are actually opposite words for describing the exact same thing," he said, suddenly realizing he was talking Jughead Jones nonsense once again. To his surprise, he could hear her mumbling,

"That's beautiful... and sad."

A few moments later, they got to the next location, which was, according to Betty a 150 years old synagogue that burned down over a decade ago and sat empty ever since. Stepping inside, the daylight of the warm afternoon is replaced by the shadows that cast the walls. Most of the walls have long since crumbled and in their place stood thick beams of wood, blackened from the flames and glass littered the floor where windows had broken. Jughead took the pictures fast, the black dust rising in the air from the charred floor and invading their lungs everytime they moved. Showing them to Betty, she declared herself more than happy with the result and they decided to move on to the next location. 

After a couple of hours, they had already checked a few more locations off their list and were ready to take a break. They entered the nearest diner, not the fanciest place in Manhattan, but they served burgers and milkshakes so Jughead considered it to be more than perfect. They sat in a booth in the far corner of the diner, so they could go over the things they needed to do next. 

"We started five hours ago and we haven't even done a third of this. This is so frustrating," she said, taking a sip from the large cup of coffee sitting in front of her.

"It's still early in the day so we should get a few more locations in before it gets dark outside."

"But we're never going to finish it today."

"Who said anything about shooting them all today? We still have tomorrow," he said, reaching for her hand resting on the table, but dropping it quickly after he realized what he had done. It occurred to him that it was the second time he did that, averting his eyes from her and looking out the window instead.

"You'd be willing to do this thing tomorrow too?" she asked bewildered as if it was too hard to believe.

He wanted to tell her how the past five hours were the most fun he had in months, but instead, he added simply,

"Of course."

After eating their burgers and often exchanging opinions on books and movies, butting heads over Tarantino's use of a handshake as a metaphor in Django Unchained, they left the diner and went to the next location, an abandoned hotel that used to be called, as the broken neon sign indicated, The Strater. According to Betty, the building featured neoclassical fenestration and marble cornices, but what made it unique were the stone sculptures.

"You really did your research," Jughead stated simply while clicking the camera button, recording multiple images of the facade. 

"The perks of pulling an all-nighter."

"You should really get some sleep tonight, we still have a lot to get done tomorrow," he added while looking through his camera lens.

"I wish. I still have to research and write background stories for some of these places," she said stifling a yawn.

Going inside, there wasn't much to photograph, except the marble-floored lobby that had the feel of an old ballroom, but none the charm. 

"Your work here is done for today. You're going home to at least take a nap." 

"But it's still early. We still have good light for maybe two or three more buildings," she whined

"Which I am going to do while you go home and rest."

"But-"

"No, that's my final offer." he cut her off before she could get another word in. "I will go and take photos of the places we planned to shoot today alone."

She agreed reluctantly, only after making sure she walked him through everything that needed to get done - twice.

"Relax, Betty. I am a professional photographer, remember?" 

The corners of her mouth twitched and she opened it as if to say something, except no words came out. He quirked an eyebrow, waiting for her to say whatever it was that was on her mind.

"It just dawned on me that you're a professional landscape photographer and I've been throwing orders at you all day. I am so sorry, Jug." 

His heart swelled up in his chest, not sure if it was a result of her sincere and unnecessary apology, or if it was the nickname she used, a nickname only Jellybean and Archie would sometimes use.

"It's fine," he said, trying to reassure her. He really didn't mind at all, he found it refreshing more than anything.

"It's not. Someday I am going to find a way to repay you, Jughead Jones." and with that promised, she walked away from him. 

 He couldn't help but feel a pang of regret after she disappeared around the corner, even though he knew he would see more of Betty Cooper the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for any mistakes I might have made and I hope I didn't disappoint you with this chapter.
> 
> As you can see, it's a really slow burn and I can't wait to reveal what I have in store for these two in the next chapter.
> 
> Feedback is always welcome. Thank you for everyone who commented/bookmarked/left kudos. I appreciate every single one of you.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so feedback is very much appreciated.


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